Pony Carburetors

sixteenpushrods · 11-01-2009, 11:39 PM

I am fighting an Autolite 4100. The engine still won't run right. It is hard starting when cold, and sometimes hard to start when hot. There are no vacuum leaks. All the passages are clean in the carb. There is no gunk buildup anywhere. Throttle shafts are tight and the choke works as well as I know to make it work. I'm at my breaking point. I have had exceptional luck with all my Holleys...especially the Street Avenger and a big part of me wants to use the 4100 as a down payment on a nice new 570 Street Avenger and dial it all in for the 289. Frankly it is embarassing to me to crank my old car so long before it starts.

The other option is sending the 4100 to Pony or someone like that. I know the Pony people did an excellent job of marketing to the Mustang magazines and really getting their name out as the reengineerers of old Ford carbs... but that's not really enough for me to drop the price of a new Holley on a rebuild from them. What are your experiences with them? Anyone using a Pony carb as a driver, or more specifically, is there someone who has had a Pony carb on their car for a few years?

gotstang · 11-01-2009, 11:46 PM

I've had the misfortune of meeting the head Pony Carbs guy. I have no idea how they stay in business if the head man has an attitude like that...if you ask him, they are incapable of making mistakes. Plus, their official recommendation is to tune by ear, and that's a good way to cover up any carb problems you might have.

I haven't used one of their carbs (and I never intend to do so) but I've heard quite a few reports that they don't do nearly as good a job as they claim. They are the best out there for "LOOKS" but I've heard horror stories and seen some awful evidence as to how good PC is with the mechanical side of things....like how thorough they are when it comes to cleaning the blast media out of the inside.

rangerdoc · 11-02-2009, 12:12 AM

I've been having the same problem with my 2100. I finally rebuilt it and did everything step by step out of the book and it works better than ever. My issue was getting the choke just right and the float set correctly. But I'm sure you've done all that if you're this frustrated and you do seem to know what you're doing.

Instead of looking to PC, how about looking around your area for a good carb shop? I found a great one in my old hometown. They could tune my car like it was brand new. Ask the local mustang clubs where they go. There has to be a good carb shop in the KC area. PC is going to cost you ALOT more money than anything local.

The 4100 is one of the best carbs ever made. I wouldn't trade it for anything if I were you. But if you do want to get rid of it let me know

Good luck.

BTW...though I've had good service on getting carb parts from PC, they aren't always the most friendly on the phone.

sixteenpushrods · 11-02-2009, 12:19 AM

No, they are never friendly on the phone. I called to buy some manual choke conversion parts and they want to give you a 45 minute dissertation on why you don't ever want to convert a Ford carb to manual choke. I tried to explain that it is going on an old Ford truck with a pull choke and I wanted to keep it operational. so they offered me the parts for $150 and told me I was an idiot. She said there is some welding that we have to do on them. All they would have to weld would be the vacuum port for the choke and the port in the airhorn where the filtered air comes from that goes down to the manifold and then back up into the choke housing.
They just seem haughty.

sixteenpushrods · 11-02-2009, 12:26 AM

I about lost it when I needed to move the car to get another Mustang out of the garage for the guy who bought it. It wouldn't start. Nothing had changed on it at all. Fuel would shoot out of the accelerator pump nozzle when prodded, spark at coil and #1 cylinder. No changes in timing, compression, or any mechanical changes.
I tried to start it like it was flooded with the pedal on the floor and i tried to start it like normal. Set the choke and fire. Nothing. I let it sit for 30 minutes and tried again. Then the battery died from all the commotion. I ended up having to just push it out of the way so I could get the car out for the guy who bought it. I've been mad at it ever since.

ylexot · 11-02-2009, 08:19 AM

Welding! Ha ha! Guess they never heard of tapping and using a tiny set screw. The 'manual' choke conversion kit from any parts store is $20 and goes where your old choke spring was.

mustangsurfer · 11-02-2009, 09:40 AM

I have only used them once, and the carb would not shut off and spilled fuel all over the engine. They tried to blame it on dirt on the needle seat. I rebuilt it proper and it runs just fine now.

Dave

sixteenpushrods · 11-02-2009, 10:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ylexot

Welding! Ha ha! Guess they never heard of tapping and using a tiny set screw. The 'manual' choke conversion kit from any parts store is $20 and goes where your old choke spring was.

The kit you are talking about goes in place of the automatic choke housing. I wanted the cable operated parts that looked factory like the HIPO carbs and the 2bbl 2100 you get on Ford trucks. When you take off the choke housing, there is a vacuum port that needs to be plugged. PC welds it up. Same goes for the tube that goes up into the air horn. They weld that up so that it looks like a factory HIPO carb.

68RCodeConv · 11-02-2009, 10:23 AM

If you are getting fuel and spark then the engine should at least try to start.

I suspect that you have an ignition problem. The coil is energized via a separate circuit when you crank it. Try hot wiring the coil and see if that helps.

sixteenpushrods · 11-02-2009, 11:41 AM

I'm getting spark at both the coil and the cylinders. I also tested for power at the coil and the light lit up. I could be mistaken, but Ford coils don't use a full 12 volts, do they?

kechke · 11-02-2009, 12:24 PM

I bought a 4100 from Pony and when it was installed on my 289 it worked as advertised, flawlessly. I have heard from others that Jon can be an A$$ and he publicly admitted that he can get obnoxious with customers who don't follow his instructions to the "T"
I only had one issue with the carb and that was when I went down an extremely steep hill , 45 degree, and the carb flooded.

I really like the looks of Summits new carb, it seems to be a 4100 clone. If I didn't have a very good performing 670 Street Avenger on my 331 I would definately be looking at one of those.

cormy1 · 11-02-2009, 12:56 PM

I did enjoy the video instructions that come with the rebuilt carb. Ran fine.

jcthorne · 11-02-2009, 02:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mustangsurfer

I have only used them once, and the carb would not shut off and spilled fuel all over the engine. They tried to blame it on dirt on the needle seat. I rebuilt it proper and it runs just fine now.

Dave

Mine did the same thing. Except on mine the float was installed incorrectly. Yeah they 'tested' it before it shipped. BS.

They also tested it and missed that the secondary throttle plates did not close....again BS. The carb looked great but Pony DOES NOT properly rebuild and test the carbs the way the advertise and charge for. Crooks as far as I am concerned. There really needs to be another option for an OEM 4100 properly done.

buckeyeresto · 11-02-2009, 04:48 PM

Try Harry and Benchwick Carburator Company, alot of restoration shops use him. 3307823767

drummingrocks · 11-02-2009, 07:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sixteenpushrods

I'm getting spark at both the coil and the cylinders. I also tested for power at the coil and the light lit up. I could be mistaken, but Ford coils don't use a full 12 volts, do they?

These cars crank on 12 volts, then cut back to ~9 volts when running.